Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in An Experiment with an Air Pump, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Science and Morality
Human Industry and the Limitations of Knowledge
The Ideal vs. Lived Experience
Passion vs. Rationality
Summary
Analysis
The lights go on and reveal Isobel hanging from a rope at center stage. Maria and Armstrong enter the room and scream. With some difficulty, they manage to get Isobel down; Maria listens to Isobel’s chest and hears a faint pulse. Armstrong orders Maria to send for help. After Maria leaves, Armstrong promptly places his hands over her nose and mouth, quickening the dying process. He checks her pulse again and feels nothing. Then Armstrong finds Isobel’s letter; he starts to read it and then crams it into his pocket when he sees what it says. The others enter the room and are horrified by Isobel’s death. When Susannah asks if Isobel left a note, Armstrong lies and says she didn’t. Fenwick cries as he picks up Isobel’s body and holds it in his arms. Fenwick says Isobel should be in her own bed, not on the cold floor. He, Susannah, Harriet, and Maria exit.
The language the stage directions employ to describe how Armstrong suffocates Isobel is rather ambiguous—it has both a medical and a passionate tone, and this further demonstrates the passion that fuels his scientific pursuits—and the science that bleeds into his personal affairs. Thus once more the play suggests that science and passion—rationality and irrationality—are not quite as separate and opposing as many of the characters would like to think they are.
Themes
Alone with Roget, Armstrong begs Roget not to say anything to the others, insisting that it might not have been Armstrong that drove Isobel to suicide. Roget says that Armstrong is obviously to blame for Isobel’s death. Armstrong, to Roget’s disgust, counters that there’s no proof. Roget scoffs that it’s only a matter of time before Farleigh digs up Isobel’s corpse. Armstrong giggles and says, “Waste not want not,” and Roget punches him in the stomach. They exit.
Armstrong uses the (supposed) absence of hard evidence to justify his treatment of Isobel and avoid accountability for her suicide. Of course, there is evidence of Armstrong’s involvement—Isobel’s suicide letter—but he is intentionally withholding it from the others. Thus, this scene reaffirms that Armstrong’s reverence for truth and knowledge is limited and subjective: his drive to uncover the truth correlates with how much personal satisfaction he gains from that truth.
Themes
In 1999, Ellen and Tom enter the room. Ellen says they can keep the house if they want—the contracts haven’t been finalized. But Tom says he’s no longer interested—in fact, he thinks the house is old and dilapidated and should be turned into something new. Kate was wrong about Tom being stuck in the past—it was only this house he was attached to, but now he wants it out of his life.
Tom’s suggestion that Kate mistakenly believed he was stuck in the past rather than simply attached to this one house reinforces his broader belief that Kate’s single-minded pursuit of knowledge gives her tunnel vision and renders her incapable of forming nuanced worldviews. She assumes that Tom’s love for the old house is evidence of an overarching nostalgia for the past and skepticism toward change. But, as Tom shows here, he’s perfectly capable of seeing the past without rose-colored glasses and accepting that some change can be good.
Themes
Ellen is sure Tom will get another job, but Tom doubts it—he’s old and unwanted. Ellen says that it's only Tom’s job that’s “redundant” and that Tom has value “as a human being.” This prompts Tom to wonder about the dead girl; Ellen doubts they’ll ever know exactly what happened to her. Tom predicts that by this time next year, the house will be full of businessmen lounging in saunas and drinking cocktails. Ellen thinks it’s more likely that the developers will run out of money and halt the project. In time, a car park will be built in its place. And, Tom adds, “no one will remember the dead girl[.]”
In affirming that Tom’s employment status has no bearing on his value “as a human being,” Ellen demonstrates that she realizes that people matter beyond how they contribute to society—and this is exactly why it’s important to form a more nuanced approach to science. When measuring the ethical consequences of scientific inquiry, researchers must consider more than just how much their research would benefit humanity as whole. Finally, Tom’s lamentation that “no one will remember the dead girl” gets at what society loses when it focuses all its efforts on progress and improvement: they devalue things like memory and the past, which are vital components of the human experience and so should be valued for themselves, even if they do little to advance society.
Themes
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Ellen and Tom leave to fetch more champagne. Music—or possibly the sound of rioting—sounds. Roget and Armstrong enter, carrying Isobel’s open coffin. Harriet and Maria follow them, carrying candles. The men place the coffin on the table, and everyone laments “poor Isobel.” Roget thinks she looks almost pretty now—her skin is “Pale as wax,” and her back is no longer the thing that defines her. Armstrong stares at Isobel hungrily; “She makes a beautiful corpse,” he notes. Everyone stares at him.
Armstrong’s bias shines through in his obvious ogling of Isobel’s corpse; he’s not just interested in her corpse for scientific reasons—he’s aroused by it sexually, too. Armstrong’s disturbing reaction to Isobel’s corpse reinforces the overlap between supposedly objective science and subjective human passion. The candles that Harriet and Maria carry cast the future in a less idealistic light. Up to this point in the play, light has symbolized progress and social improvement. But here, light accompanies a more dismal scene, suggesting that humanity’s quest for truth and knowledge has limitations and can’t rid the world of all suffering (as embodied here by Isobel’s tragic death).
Themes
Fenwick and Susannah enter and pay their respects to Isobel. Fenwick laments that they must greet the new century with this sad event instead of with the “hope and anticipation” that he had in mind. Then everyone gathers around the coffin, their positions once more mimicking the Wright painting—only this time, Isobel has assumed the position of the bird in the air pump. As the church bells announce midnight—and the start of a new century—Fenwick toasts “to a future we dream about but cannot know[.]”
The actors recreate the Wright painting that opened the play, only this time, their pursuit of knowledge and truth is less idealistic: it’s been tempered by the tragedy of Isobel’s sudden and unexpected death, which has taught them that there are limits to what humanity can know about the world and the human condition.
Themes
